Can filling machine



Nov. 24, 1936. c. H. AYARS 2,061,644

CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l [nvenior vCharles H Hy r MW. 24, 1936. c. H. AYARS CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Sept.23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheec 2 Khan I yar Attorney Inventor Charles H H c/ 9.c; H. AYARS CAN FILLING MACHINE Nov. 24,

Filed Sept. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet '3IIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIlIlII/I/III [Illlllllllll I nununn a nw v (INA/A h I I M I- I; v

IIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIlIIIIlIIlIlIIlI/II/I/ll llll'lllllll I I I IIll/Ill I I I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IlIIIIIlI/I H l'torney wholetoma-toesandthe'likemay bei-directed-into,

I disrupt the wholetomatoes and break them int Patentedi-Nov; 24;

umreo 23613442 can rmnme- MACHINE camera. Ayarsi sa'lem, N.-J'.,assignor to Machine Gompany, Salem, N-JQ; a corporation:

Applieatlon september 23,1935, Serial'No. 41,652

Thisinventionrelates'tocan filling machinery" and has particular"reference tomachinery for! filling cans with juicy or semi-juicy;material such; forinstance', as tomatoes,

In the tomato canningiindustry, tomatoes afterbeing, picked are usuallywashed: mechanically and by some sort of a, machine like that shownanddescribedin'my co-pending application Serial No. 752,954, filed November14,- 1934,from which machine they. are passed on to a scalderv and theskins removed; Thetomatoes-are then passed to acanfilling machine wheremeasured quantities are placed continuously in cans.- 1, the

canscappedand then passed to" a conditioning machine for cooking thesame.

While the present invention will be discussed in connection with thefillingof cans with toma toes, it will, of course, be understood thatother commodities such,1for: instance, as'peache'sand other fruits andvegetables, may be placed means by 'themechanism described herein.

Inv machines for filling cans with tomatoes and in suchmachinesasshownby my former'United States Letters Patents N'o.1,459,492, grantediJ-une 19, 1923; No. 1,476,278, grantedDcemberl, 1923;No; 1,480,335, granted January 8, 1924'; andNo;

1,883,460, granted October 18,- 1932, the. happen from which thecommodity is receivedby the, telescoping measuring cupsis locateddirectly," above the rotating turrets so that when the meats uring cupis opened 'to be filled from saidhoppen the entire weight of thecontents of said hoppe bears upon the materialentering the'cup'and, in;

the (DB-SGIOf tomatoes, this weightis suflicient .t

pieces;-

The primary object of the present inventio I ism provide a machinewherebycans may b filledwwith fragile commodities sue-tailor instanc theweight of the materlalin'the hUDDEI'gSQ-tl'lfll;

the cups, for deposit' in the'cans.

provide such-a machine-imwhichthe whole-to matoes will notbe subject-tothe action-or theshaker which is likelyto disrupt the-same.

Still'another objector the-invention is toprovide' sucha machinewherein-the' whole tomatoes willbedeposited into the 'cups prior to thedeposit of thepuipy disrupted tomatoes';x"wheichy the wholetomatoesawill not be subject to the le vellmgaction of the shaker.

still-another object orathe lnvention is'topro the cups at the otherside of the turret. hopper may also be provided with perforations astomatoes-withthe'skinwenioved and wherein the tomato 1 will notbe'idl-sruptedorbroken by' machine with the novel mechanism in therein,40

latl've Another object 015- the present invention is vide suchamachin'ewith a hopper having means for straining the juice from thetomatoes placed in:saidhopper and directingthe same into a--well.AstilLfurther object of the invention is-to providemeans in the saidjuice well or pan whereby 5' measured quantities of the said juice isdeposited into'each-ofthe cans prior to. the reception'of the'tomatoesinto the same. 1 Another object is to provide means in the saidjuicewellor pan for maintaining a level o f the 1 said juiceth'ere'inand means for carrying off the excess. 1 V

According'to the invention, the can filling chine comprises upper andlower rotatable tur rets with telescoping measuring cupsthereon foradjusting the measuring capacity of said cups, a

shaker orsagitator on the upper turret and a V hopperhaving itsopen'upper endoffset vertical] from said turrets and having an angularlydis posed funnel portion for directing. tomatoesplaced therein on tosaid upper turret. The fumnel portion of said hopper is so arranged inangularityithat the pulpyrmass of broken or disrupted tomatoes'will'fallon to the turret at the point of entrance from said funnel portion;while the wholetomatoes will rise to the top of said pulpy 25mass-andwill roll across the turret and fallinto The 11 andawallbehind-the same provided with means ,for draining the juice into ajuicepan. The juice -pan may also be provided with-an adjustablemeasuringapparatus whereby -a measured quanty of said juice'is deposited,into each of the =cans. a

-. The drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention and theviewstherein are as-followsz Rig. 1 is'a perspective view showingfillingrated Fig. 2 ice, top plan view-showing th re positionsofthehoppenfiturrets, agitatonor, shah er, andtheir connectingmechanism,

Flgl Sjis'a vertical; sectional view: on the line 3- 3 of Fig. 2,lookingfin the direction of the ar-' I'OWS',

Fig; 4 isa vertical sectional view taken onthe lined-tor Fig. 2iandlooking in the direction of: the arrows, and

Fig. 5' is-a vertical sectional view'on theline 5-'-5 of Fig. 2, lookingin thedirection' of the arrowa m t ng machine'illustrated in 1 issubstaYit'ialIyiike that shown in the patents hereiiilbefore enumeratedand having applied thereto FFICE,

the several features of invention hereinbefore mentioned.

The machine is provided with a can receptacle 6 for feeding cans on to ascrew "I which feeds them into proper position to be received by a starwheel 6 which locates the said cans in position below the funnels 9.This can feeding and positioning mechanism is explained in myapplication Serial No. 385,243, filed August 12,1928.

Abovethe funnels '9 is a drip pan H for the purpose of catching anyjuice which escapes during the filling operation and this drip pan isprovided with a well l2 having measuring apparatus l3 therein, as laterexplained.

The machine is also provided with lower and upper turret members ld andI6 which have upwardly and downwardly circular flanges I! and I8respectively, which said flanges telescope to provide adjustablemeasuring cups for measuring predetermined quantities of materials to beplaced in the cans A. These turrets are rotatable through the medium ofthe shaft I9 connected in any suitable manner to the horizontal mainshaft of the machine driven by the pulley 2|.

These turrets with their telescoping cups are clearly shown in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 1,883,460, above referred to. v

The drip pan ll may be formed integral with the lower turret. 7

Above the turrets I4 and I6 is an agitator or shaker 22, which saidmember is provided with an opening 23 which provides a passageway forthe material to enter the measuring cups. The walls of this shaker aresubstantially vertical on one side, as shown at 24, and outwardly flaredon the other side, as shown at 26, Fig. 4. This shaker member ispivotally mounted on the shaft 21 by the sleeve 28 on the extension 29.

An arm 3| diametrically opposite the extension 29 extends from theshaker and is provided at its outer end with a slot 32 in which operatesa wrist pin 33 mounted on the disk 34, which disk is mounted upon theshaft 36 and adapted for rotation therewith. The shaft 36 is in turndriven in any suitable manner, as from-the main shaft of the machine.

This type of agitator or shaker is clearly described in my Patent No.1,818,780, granted .Au-.

gust 11, 1931.

The shaker or agitator 22 is surmounted by hopper mechanism which in thedesign illustrated herein consists of an outwardly flaring part 31 witha funnel portion 38 and a vertical wall portion 39 extending around theshaker 22 and connecting the funnel portion 38 of said hopper.

The outwardly flared portion 31 is offset vertically from the turrets l4and I6, and the funnel portion is set at such an angle as will directthe pulpy broken tomatoes on to the upper turret at a point near wherethe shaker or agitator will direct such mass into the cups B formed bythe flanges of said turrets, while the whole tomatoes will rise to thetop of said pulpy mass and will roll across the said upper turret andfall into the pockets on the other side of the turret.

Considering Fig. 2, the pulpy mass of tomatoes will be directed at apoint near the cup nearest the center line of said machine and coveredby said hopper, while the whole tomatoes will roll across the turret andbe deposited in the cups B and B As the turrets are rotating in thedirection of the arrow C, Fig. 2, the whole tomatoes will be directedinto the cups B and 13 prior to the pulpy mass being deposited therein,so that as the pulpy mass which is filled into the cans and above thewhole tomatoes comes into contact with the shaker or agitator 22, thewhole tomatoes will not be disrupted as would be the case if theyextended above the top of the can, in which case the shaker or agitatorwould sever them inlevelling the contents.

The funnel is provided with perforations 4| in the'lower part of thesame and a separate Wall 42 will direct the juice passing through saidperforations into the spout 43 formed on thef'ottom of the same. Thisspout directs the juices into the flaring cup 44 forming part of thedrip or JLllCQ pan.

The juice pan has a rectangular extension 46 into which the pivotingshaft 21 of the shaker is screwed by threads 4! on the lower end thereofand this extension has a wall 48 forming overflow means for the saiddrip pan, and excess juices which flow into said rectangular extensionare carried therefrom through the'opening 49 which may be connected witha pipe 5| extending to any means for collecting said excess.

The well l2 formed in the drip pan of the lower turret has a downwardlyextending part'52 provided with-a chamber 53 and with a pipe 54. A shaft56 extends into said well and has affixed to its upper end a rotarymember 51 which has a measuring chamber 58 formed in the'lower face ofthe same; and said' member is provided with a sleeve 59 in which'acapacity'adjusting member 6| operates. This capacity adjusting memberis adjusted by virtueof a screw-threaded pipe 62 and rotary hand member63, so that the said member 6| may be raised or lowered to alter thecapacity of the measuring chamber 58." An air vent 62 extends throughthe member 6| and communicates with the pipe 62.

- Itwill readily be seen that when the shaft 56 which is connected byany suitable means to the main operating shaft rotates, the member 51will rotate; and as the drip pan l 1 contains the juices of the materialbeing filled into the cans, the chamber 53 will always be filled withsaid juice and as the chamber 58 passes over the chamber 53, the firstnamed. chamber will likewise be filled with juice, and said juice willbe carried over to the pipe 54 and directed from said pipe into the opentop of a can A, as shown in Fig. l.

The machine is, of course, so timed that for each operation of themember 51 a canwill have been advanced to a point beneath the pipe 54;In this way, each can receives a measured quantity, of juice andconsequently the cans are uniformly filled.

The hopper member is maintained in position by means of the extensions66 and 61 extending out from the vertical wall 39 fitting over shafts 21and 68 respectively.

It will be seen that in a machine of the type described, the wholetomatoes can be placed in the cans without fear of disruption and thepulpy mass placed in around the same to fill the voids and theexcess-levelled off by means of theshaker.

-It will also be seen that by the juice straining means cooperating withthe juice measuring and filling means, an accurateamount of juice may beplaced in each can and, therefore, the cans will be uniformly filledwith a certain percentage of Whole tomatoes, tomato pulp and juice.

Of course the mechanism illustrated and described herein may be modifiedin various ways without departing from the invention herein set forthand hereafter claimed.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows: 1. in a can nllingmachinecomprising upper and lower horizontally disposed rotatable turrets withtelescoping measuring cups thereon, a hopper having its open upper endoffset vertically from said turrets and having an angularly disposedfunnel portion for directing material placed therein onto said upperturret, said funnel being so disposed that substantially sphericalobjects will roll across the turret and enter-the cups opposite the baseof the funnel while pulpous matter will fill into said cups at the mouthof the funnel.

2. In a can filling machine comprising upper and lower horizontallydisposed rotatable turrets with telescoping measuring cups thereon, ahopper having its open upper end offsetvertically from said turrets andhaving an angularly disposed funnel portion for directing materialplaced therein onto said upper turret, and means for preventing saidmaterial from passing over the edge of said turret, said funnel being sodisposed that substantially spherical objects will roll across theturret and enter the cups opposite the base of the funnel while pulpousmatter will fill into said cups at the mouth of the funnel. 3. In a canfilling machine comprising upper and lower horizontally disposedrotatable turrets with telescoping measuring cups thereon, a hopperhaving its open upper end offset vertically from said turrets and havingan angularly disposed funnel portion for directing material placedtherein onto said upper turret, and means connecting the open end ofsaid funnel for preventing said material from passing over the edge ofsaid turret, said funnel being so disposed that substantially sphericalobjects will roll across the turret and enter the cups opposite the baseof the funnel while pulpous matter will fill into said cups at the.mouth of the funnel.

4. In a can filling machine comprising upper and lower horizontallydisposed rotatable turretswith telescoping measuring cups thereon, ahopper having its open upper end offset vertically from said turrets andhaving an angularly dis- :posed funnel portion for directing materialplaced therein onto said upper turret, and a vertical wall connectingthe open end of said funnel for preventing said material from passingover the edge of said turret, said funnel being so disposed thatsubstantially spherical objects will roll across the turret and enterthe cups opposite the base of v the funnel while pulpous matter willfillinto said cups at the mouth of the funnel.

5. Ina machine for filling cans with juicy ma terial, comprisingadjustable measuring cups and an agitator for shaking pulpous materialinto said cups for deposit in the cans, a juice pan around the cups, ahopper having means for straining the juice and directing same into saidpan, and means in said pan operated by said machine for supplying canswith measured quantities of said juice.

. and directing 3 6. In a machine for filling cans with juicy ma.-terial, comprising adjustable measuring cups and an agitator for shakingpulpous material into said cups for deposit in the cans, a juice panaround the cups, a hopper having means for straining the juice anddirecting same into said pan, and a rotatable measuring device in saidpan for supplying, cans with measured quantities of said Juice. 1

7. In a.machine for filling cans with juicy ma,- terial, comprisingadjustable measuring cups and an agitator for shaking pulpous materialinto said cups for deposit in the cans, a juice pan around the cups, ahopper having means for straining the juice and directing same into saidpan, and a rotatable and capacity adjustable devicein said pan forsupplying cans with measured quantities oi. said juice.

8. In a machine for filling cans with juicy material, comprisingadjustable measuring cups and an agitator for shaking pulpous materialinto said cups for deposit in the cans, a juice pan around the cups, ahopper having perforations in the wall thereof leading into means forcollecting the juice said pan for supplying cans with measuredquantitles of said juice.

9. In a machine for filling cans with juicy material, comprisingadjustable measuring cups and an agitator for shaking pulpous materialinto said cups for deposit in the cans, a juice pan around the cups, a.hopper having perforations in the wall thereof leading into means forcollecting the juice and directing same into said pan, means in said panfor supplying cans with measured quantities of said juice, and verfi'owmeans on said pan for carrying off excess juice.

10. In a can filling machine for tomatoes comprising upper rotatableturrets with telescoping measuring cups thereon, a hopper having itsopen upper end ofiset vertically from said turrets and having a funnelportion so disposed in angularity that the pulpy disrupted tomatoes willfall onto the upper turret at the point of entrance from said funnelwhile whole tomatoes will rise from the pulpy mass and roll across saidupper turret and fall into said cups substantially opposite saidentrance point.

11. In a can filling machine for juicy materials, comprising upper andlower rotatable turrets with telescoping measuring cups thereon, a juicepan, a hopper having its open upper end offset vertically fromsaidturret and having a funnel portion extending in a. downward angulardirection, said hopper having perforations and means for directing thejuice of said material into the juice pan, means for serving a measuredquantity. of said juice into each can to be filled, and overflow meansfor removing excess juice from said pan.

CHARLES H. AYARS.

same into said Dan, and means in

